The Gift of a Day

Busyness is a hallmark of our modern lives. It’s proudly paraded in our culture as though a busy life is equivalent to a meaningful one. If you listen carefully, you’ll hear the boast beneath people’s busyness. A calendar full of commitments is our adult version of a Girl Scout’s sash full of merit badges. It makes us feel important. If I weren’t so necessary, I wouldn’t be stretched so thin.

Most of us don’t need to be convinced that we’re addicted to busyness. We know it. We feel it. We’re exhausted from running frantically from moment to moment, while never being fully present in the moment.

So we rise long before the sun, log in, caffeinate, and multitask all day long. Sometime near the end of the endless cycle, we feel exhausted, but our restless minds refuse to rest. Maddeningly, no matter how busy we make ourselves, there will never be enough time.

But 2016 is a Leap Year, which means that you and I are about to receive a cosmic gift.

We are about to receive the gift of an entire day.

February 29th is fast approaching. Happy Leap Year to each of us. The question is, How are we going to use it?

Without attention, my guess is that the day will pass in a blur just like every other. But don’t let that happen! This is an extra-special day that deserves to be spent in an extra-special way.

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Road trip!

Fill up your tank, buy that giant Slushy, crank up your favorite 80s band, and drive like you’re in college again. Gas prices are as low as they were then, so seize the day and go visit that friend or family member you haven’t seen in far too long. For a bonus, make it surprise and show up on their doorstep unannounced.

2. Rest.

If you’ve been running so hard that you know you’re on empty, give yourself the gift of deleting everything on your calendar. It’s an extra day, after all. Sleep in. Fry a heaping plate of bacon. Spend extra time in Scripture. Go for the extra-long run. [Maybe do that before the bacon.] Read. Use this day to recharge.

3. Play.

If the only quality time you’ve had with family has been chauffeuring your kids to and from soccer practice, use this day to reconnect with the people closest to you.

4. Give a day’s wages.

HOPE International is inviting our friends to offer one day’s wages and invest in families around the world, so that they can leap forward on the path out of poverty. If you’re interested in helping, watch this video, calculate the value of your day on the Leap Forward website, and donate your Leap Forward gift.

In 2016, we’re gifted an extra day—let’s make February 29 a gift and take a leap!

Portions of this post were adapted from 40/40 Vision.

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